A continuing mission to explore and document the inhabitants and environment of Monroe County, New York, and beyond.

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Owl Woods • April 9

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Wait! That's not an owl! It a female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker! Along with the tremendous owl movement through the Woods today, sapsuckers were in numbers, too.

Northern Saw-whet Owl. There were at least six saw-whets in the Woods today! Being a tremendous day, there was a tremendous number of owl spotters in the Woods, too. This caused the owls to move around a bit, making exact counts more difficult.

Northern Saw-whet Owl. This owl was one of the hardier birds that held its perch all day until at least 5 PM when it was last reported. Many of the other saw-whets relocated during the day.Video at http://youtu.be/PsMhRy4r3pY .

Long-eared Owl. There were at least seven Long-eared Owls in the Woods today! More interesting was that they were still along the trail during the noon hour. This didn't mean they were easy to find. They were not! However, if you slowed way down and carefully and methodically looked at each tall spruces at around 25 feet up or so, it seemed more often that not you would be rewarded with a Long-ear. Also, being midday, they were all settled in and amenable to photography and long visual inspections.

Long-eared Owl. The owl is the tiniest speck in the middle of this picture. Being 25+ feet up in the air means that binoculars were extremely helpful, if not necessary, for finding these owls. (One almost never needs binoculars for saw-whets.)Video at http://youtu.be/yqprU0ByxOE .

Long-eared Owl. So, an owl survey team member and I meet another photographer, Dana, in the Woods and show her her first ever Long-eared Owl. (The one in the previous picture.) My colleague and I continue on trying to recover one of the Long-ears I had seen earlier when Dana says she just found another Long-eared (above), all by herself! Excellent spotting, Dana!Video at http://youtu.be/yUtsAqEg8as .No doubt this will be a remarkable day in the records for seasons to come!

About Me

What started out as a project for work to test new digital cameras and image processing methods turned into a passion for wildlife photography with special emphasis on bird photography. I try to make it somewhere in Monroe county, NY, every day, weather permitting, to capture the endlessly fascinating changes in the flora and fauna.